| 1 | O you who believe! Let it be said: Al-Alim; |
| 2 | The Scholar, the Teacher, the Master; |
| 3 | And the thirty-third name of Allah, the Infinite, the Unique, the All Knowing. |
| 4 | The father that does not eat until all his children are fed; |
| 5 | The master that travels at the rear of the caravan, not the head; |
| 6 | The king that dresses as a humble servant, unless required by law to adorn his vestments; |
| 7 | Thus Allah is the scholar and teacher of humility, hindsight and balance. |
| 8 | A true Muslim is a scholar, there can be no doubt. |
| 9 | A disbeliever is one who hates knowledge. |
| 10 | A heretic against Allah is one who hates the words of the Divine Creator being all wisdom. |
| 11 | Therefore, do not be fooled by the agents of Uthman and the Umay-Yad, |
| 12 | That say they are Muslim and support Islam yet hate knowledge. |
| 13 | If a man who claims to be Muslim strikes a scholar or a student for learning, |
| 14 | Let him confess his crime and have his offending hand cut off. |
| 15 | If a man damage or even destroy a scriptorium, let him lose his head for such deliberate ignorance. |
| 16 | No man can both love Allah and hate knowledge without being a heretic or an idiot. |
| 17 | Instead protect the scholar, respect the scholar and allow them to learn. |
| 18 | If then a scholar raise a subject of controversy, let him speak. |
| 19 | If he be in error, let men of learning debate him. |
| 20 | Yet if learned men cannot through reason and logic defeat the argument of the scholar, |
| 21 | Then let them welcome him to the brethren of knowledge and respect him. |
| 22 | Verily, if Allah were intolerant of students, mankind would no longer exist. |
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Sufa 36 - The Scholar (Al-Alim)